


My Queen in Calico

by ambiguously



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Established Relationship, Extra Treat, F/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29419221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguously/pseuds/ambiguously
Summary: The war is over, and the family has to decide where to go next.
Relationships: Alexsandr Kallus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	My Queen in Calico

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucymonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucymonster/gifts).



"He should go to school." Kallus looked out the forward bubble of the ship. In the short, lush grass outside, he could just make out Jacen playing with Chopper under a warm sun.

Hera sat in her chair, following his gaze. Her eyes never failed to soften when they looked at her child, a measure of the constant stress in her life pouring out of her replaced by a fierce love. She'd do anything for Jacen. She'd fought a war for him to give him a chance to grow up in a galaxy where being born with the Force wasn't an automatic death sentence. There were times -- not often and only when he was allowing himself to wallow in self-recrimination -- that Kallus wondered if she'd entered into this relationship with him to give the boy a father aside from their intermittent ghostly visitor only Jacen could see.

"I know."

"It won't be so bad. He'll adjust to being around other children. He'll make friends." Kallus stopped himself before sharing his own school memories. He hadn't gone to a real school until the Empire had come and set up their training facility bent on churning out good Imperial citizens. He had made friends there, and if he tried very hard, he could make himself believe he'd never caused any of their deaths later in the war. He caused so many over the years. Zeb had given him an astonishing gift at the end of the war, showing him his people's secret that he'd been carrying for years, but it didn't replace the lives Kallus had taken.

"Chopper's his friend."

"Chopper is not an appropriate friend for a seven year old." Hera folded her arms, giving him a look, but he'd said it on purpose. "Yes, even if he was your best friend when you were young. That's all the more reason for Jacen to make other friends." Friends who didn't have kill counts in the thousands, he thought but did not say. He loved Hera, more than he'd imagined possible, but he sometimes wondered how different her life would have been without the early influence of that orange homicidal maniac.

She let out a breath as she glanced at the pair playing in the grass again. "I know he should be attending school. I know it would be good for him." She turned to face him. "But it means we have to be there. I won't send him away."

"I'd never suggest it." He took her hand. "There are some fine schools on Lothal."

Her face changed, the worry shifting. "Are you sure? You've stayed away from Lothal for a reason."

Dozens of them. Hundreds. He'd been part of the Imperial machine that had enslaved the planet and its people. He had also helped liberate that world, but some memories stretched back to before he was on their side. He should flee to any other planet where he'd be welcomed as a hero. He knew in his heart that his debts lay heaviest on Lothal, though, and Jacen had a strong connection to the planet, the wolves, the people. He thrived when Hera took him to see Sabine. Lothal was his home in the bone.

"I think it's the best decision for Jacen. If you agree, I can start filling out the admittance forms." He held the last part out as a treat. Hera was fed up enough with most of her command duties. Paperwork was by far her least favorite chore.

"He's going to have to learn to sit still," she said. "And pay attention. And not levitate the teacher when he's bored."

"All children have some adjustment issues." But he could tell she'd already decided. They'd return to Lothal, and live there for a year or five or ten. Jacen would grow up under a sun instead of artificial lights, and would learn the traditions of the planet his family had given so much to free. Kallus would walk the same streets he once helped terrorize, and there would be some trouble, and he would learn to deal with it. Hera would continue to deal with her own ghosts, literal and figurative, and fly off when the New Republic needed her, and come back as soon as she could.

"I'll get the ship ready," she said. She leaned over and placed a quick kiss on his lips. Kallus left her there and went to fetch Jacen and Chopper. It was time to go home.


End file.
